book april 16, 2005

[carolsherman]

Just booked our first 7 day cruise we had to cancel our cruise for 1/17/04 this year and the great news is hubby is going to go he hates to fly, won't take the train again and definately won't drive so this is going to be a real family vacation. Kids and I did RCCL in December 03 out of San Juan so its great we are doing the Eastern provided my kids school does not change the April vacation dates. What would be the best excursions disney/non disney we are not snorklers but hubby and kids are willing to try, I can't swim. Someone on the cruisecritic boards mentioned sailing the highpocket sailboat but she wants $110 a piece for the whole day while we are docked in St. Thomas I think thats a little steep. PLEASE HELP!!!!!

 

[Penny12]

We did two things when we were in St Thomas - both of which I'd recommend.

One was the cable car which is within a 5 minute walk from the ship and gives you some wonderful views over the bay (great pictures to be had).

The second was the Buck Island Sail and Snorkel which we did in the afternoon - the nice thing about this is there is only 6 to a sail boat, so it's really pretty cool! As it's only a half day sail, it's better suited to first time snorkelers and not so long for you to sit out as the non-swimmer.

I personally don't recommend Highpocket. They are the same family/company as the Fantasy daysail. I booked an all day sail with them back in <b>February</b> for New Years Eve. At the beginning of December they told me completely out of the blue that they were moving our party from the Fantasy to another yacht in their fleet - Highpocket, a day later they then told me they made a mistake and Highpocket was already booked but they wished me luck booking another excursion thru our cruise ship. 2 weeks before I was due to leave - did I mention it was New Years Eve?

That was it...no explanation - in fact, there was not even an apology and despite me replying to them, they never even had the courtesy to even acknowledge my existence after that. I guess they were offered more money by someone else, I can only surmise that due to the fact that they never bothered to offer any sort of explanation for cancelling a booking I'd made over 10 months earlier - personally I wouldn't touch any company with those kind of work ethics and customer service (or lack of) with a barge pole, and I certainly won't be recommending them to anyone who asks!

 

[kcashner]

Ok, I'm confused. You booked for 1/17/04? That was a month ago? You cruised RCCL 12/04? That's 10 months from now.

You didn't mention ages of the kids. This would make a huge difference in what activities I'd choose. For the 4-9 or 10 year old set, I'd definintely recommend Coral World. You can easily do it on your own. When you get off the ship, go to the tourist info booth and get a free magazine which has discount admission coupons. Then take a taxi to Coral World. It is an aquarium/undersea observation area/hands on exhibit area (you can touch various sea creatures including a nurse shark). They have hiking trails, a gift shop and snack bar. There is a beach across a street (more like a parking lot). I believe beach admission was free. You can bring towels from the boat. By doing it on your own, you avoid the DCL crowds, and you'll have as much time as you want.

 

[carolsherman]

sorry meant 12/03 not 04 for RCCL and we were supposed to go on 1/17/04 DCL but had to cancel sorry I did considering According to Jim was filmed on it. My boys are going to be 10 and 13, How is the Champagne Sail would it be to boring for the boys. I don't mind booking stuff on my own but with Highpockets its an all day thing and I get nervous at the fact 1 if the ship is late coming in and 2 if Highpockets is late coming back I like to give myself a few hours leway to get back to the ship if something happens and now with the post above I think we will skip Highpockets all together. I like the sailing thing but don't want to fight 5 million people on a boat.

By the way Penny we did the cable car in December and it was a hoot there were 3 Puerto Rican Woman screaming in the car behind us and when we turned around all we could see was 1 the other 2 were on the floor of the car, my boys and I were laughing so hard that it got them laughing, I was dying with tears in my eyes by the time we reached the top. When we reached the top we had to tell the operator about it and he literally had to drag the 2 woman off the floor of the car they wouldn't get out. The whole time we were at the top we kept running into the woman and we all started laughing hysterically because of what had happened.

 

[carolsherman]

any help on shore excursions would be greatly appreciated thanks